Top Up or Change?

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2003 Sable Duratec

Coming up to 5k miles / 11 months on QSUD 5w30 and Bosch Premium. Everything is running great.

I had been intending to do yearly oci's but the oil is nowhere near being black and it's seen 70% highway trips of an hour at a time.

The dipstick is showing perhaps half a quart low.

What say y'all about just topping up and going 2k more? Will the filter be ok?

Top up would be with Synpower 5w30 although I could also use QSUD 5w20 (prefer to use the Synpower as it is an older open bottle)

Factory oci is 5k / 6 month on Ford spec 5w20. I presume QSUD 5w30 exceeds those specs.
 
I think that this is a good plan, but might suggest a UOA at 6,000 miles to see where you stand. If this were me, I would be aiming for a 7,500 OCI if the engine lets me... which the Duratec should. The color of the oil probably suggests that the engine is in nice shape. (not a guarantee, though. Your oil consumption is superb. What is the mileage on this Sable?
 
Originally Posted By: TomYoung
I think that this is a good plan, but might suggest a UOA at 6,000 miles to see where you stand. If this were me, I would be aiming for a 7,500 OCI if the engine lets me... which the Duratec should. The color of the oil probably suggests that the engine is in nice shape. (not a guarantee, though. Your oil consumption is superb. What is the mileage on this Sable?


The engine has 72k on it.

Since I've had it, it's mostly had oil changes at 6 months regardless of mileage, and usually with MC 5w20 syn blend. If not the MC then its only had a full syn. It has never had an oil change beyond 5k miles and sometimes much less.

Up until the last year or two, it was running badly. I realized it was substantial carbon build up in the air and fuel system following a few years of almost exclusive very short tripping and non top tier fuel. Multiple doses of Techron and PEA were not enough to clear this up although they made a huge difference. It took the Walmart fuel system cleaning service at $20 about 1k ago to finally restore a like new power and smoothness.
 
Originally Posted By: Warstud
Is this your daily driver?


Not quite. It gets out once or twice a week.
 
Originally Posted By: FoxS
Originally Posted By: Warstud
Is this your daily driver?


Not quite. It gets out once or twice a week.


In that case...change it.
 
Strange recommendation.

5k in 1 year doing mainly 2 one hour highway trips a week is better than doing 10 fifteen minute trips per week.
 
Originally Posted By: KCJeep
With all those highway runs I'd just top it off.

+1 - if it was being used in city stop and go driving it may be a different story, but I would top off and keep on motoring.
grin2.gif
 
Any objections to topping up with Synpower 5w30?

Also any concerns about the Bosch Premium staying on?
 
Originally Posted By: FoxS
Any objections to topping up with Synpower 5w30?

Also any concerns about the Bosch Premium staying on?


If you are going for 7500, you can top up with anything, even conventional. I might use QSGB for the top up. But you could use whatever you have on the shelf.
 
I like draining down a quart. Do that 4 times I got a free oil change. But it never seems to work out that way. Usually I cant resist topping it off.
 
I guess I'm in the minority, I'd change it. Time is a factor that should be considered. Your mileage hasn't been an issue. With that said, running a high quality oil a bit long wouldn't really do any damage either...so I guess either is just fine. I err on the side of caution.
 
Well I just did the top up with Synpower 5w30.

My consumption was lower than I thought. It seemed about a quarter of a quart, so I topped up very little.

The oil is light to medium golden brown in color. I wonder whether the Bosch Premium oil filter, now at 5000 miles, has become even more efficient.

One thing that struck me was how the oil did not seem to flow down the dipstick very fast even though it was hot. In the past, the same oil seemed to flow very fast. I'll check it again cold.

But I am wondering whether the oil has thickened and therefore warrants being changed now after all.
 
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